At Oregon, twin diamond drama moves to Saturday climax

Missing their ace pitcher and working without a script, the Oregon women's softball team wrote one banger of a movie on Friday night.

Down 1-0 with Lyndsey Grein in street clothes with a patch over her left eye, Ayanna Shaw came to the plate with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and rode a 2-2 pitch into the night sky.

A star of Oregon's dramatic run to the College World Series last season, Shaw had hit just one home run all year. A sold-out crowd of 2,517 was on hand to witness the drama, a raucous, joyous group that included Version 7 star shortstop Paige Sinicki and Heisman Trophy legend Marcus Mariota.

Head coach Melyssa Lombardi told John Evans of 247Sports' Duck Territory, "She [Grein] wasn't available tonight due to an infection, and she's day-by-day."

"We've had to take on strain at different times of the year, so to watch these guys do that for her — I knew these guys were gonna be ready to go, but we're gonna be even that much more ready to go knowing that they've got a teammate that was down tonight."

With Grein sidelined, Elise Sokolsky came out of the bullpen to pitch 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out the side in the sixth and hurling a 1-2-3 seventh for the win, giving her a 9-3 mark on the season.

Though Sokolsky was brilliant, she didn't do it alone. In the 7th, third baseman Katie Flannery dove for hot smash in the hole and threw out Vandal designated player Jaden Moore from her knees.

Wow.

For the Oregon women, the Eugene Regional moves to Saturday afternoon at Jane Sanders Stadium, a 2 p.m. PT game against Mississippi State, broadcast on KWVA radio. According to NCAA.com, the TV broadcast will be on ESPN+. The Bulldogs needed eight innings to defeat St. Marys Friday night, 3-2.

Baseball squad responds with grace under pressure of their own

Meanwhile, across the parking lot at PK Park, Oregon men's baseball were staging a dramafest of the their own. The Ducks trailed early 2-0 to USC in their pivotal series after losing Game 1 on Thursday. They needed a win to clinch a Top 4 spot in the Big Ten Tournament next week, while keeping alive their hopes for a home regional in the NCAA Tournament.

They got home runs from Brayden Jaksa and Naulivou Lauaki Jr. to win 4-3.

With no outs in the bottom of the fourth the freshman Jaksa erased the 2-0 deficit with a three-run jack deep to left. Ryan Cooney had started the inning off by reaching base on an error, then Drew Smith worked USC ace Grant Govel for a walk.

Closer Devin Bell shut the door with an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief, striking out three. He got second baseman and leadoff hitter Kevin Takeuchi to chase a 1-2 pitch out of the zone to end the game.

Web gems figured greatly in baseball's stirring comeback as well. In the sixth centerfielder Jack Brooks reached over the wall to rob the Trojans' Jack Basseer of a home run.

The men take the field Saturday at 3 p.m. PT in the series decider, broadcast on the Oregon Sports Network for radio, the Big Ten Network for TV.

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